Thomas, Sherry. "J.K. Rowling has the future mapped out
for Harry Potter," The Houston Chronicle, 20 March 2001.

J.K. Rowling knows how her best-selling Harry Potter series will end.
Yes, it will be dark. No, she's not saying whether Harry lives or dies.
Let her finish book five first.

"The final chapter of book seven is written," the British author told
reporters Thursday in a teleconference. "You will find out what happens
to the survivors."

One character has already fallen in Rowling's weighty fourth tome, Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Will there be more deaths in the wizard
world? Moreover, will her readers be able to handle it?

"I feel that the ending of book four is frightening, but there are reasons
for that. I was dealing with an evil character," Rowling explained. "I
do not see, in five, six and seven, that I have to, kind of, up the stakes
with every book at all. I wouldn't necessarily say that five is going
to be darker. But I couldn't promise that there isn't more sad stuff coming."

While book five is "under way," Rowling doesn't expect to finish it
in time for a summer 2001 release. What Potter fans can look forward to
is the March release of two, very short Harry Potter "reference" books.
As part of a charity project with London writer Richard Curtis (of Notting
Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral fame), Rowling has written and illustrated
books that have appeared in the Harry Potter series over the years --
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Quidditch Through
the Ages.

Meanwhile, Goblet of Fire and the other Harry Potter books
-- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and
the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
-- continue to spark controversy among some religious groups, who oppose
the references to magic and witchcraft. Harry Potter even made the banned-books
list.

"It's a short-sighted thing. It is very hard to portray goodness without
showing what the reverse is. That's always been my feeling about literature,"
Rowling said. "You find magic, witchcraft and all those things throughout
children's literature. Are you going to stop The Wizard of Oz?
Are you going to stop C.S. Lewis? At what point are you going to say these
are dangerous and damaging?"

Ask the folks in Santa Fe, where a proposal by a school board member
aims to remove several books -- including the Potter books -- from the
local elementary school library. That school board was to consider the
book ban at a meeting Thursday night.

"I personally think they're very mistaken," Rowling said of the proposal.
"What scares me is these people are trying to protect children from their
own imagination."

Perhaps it's the overprotective nature of parents. But perhaps, Rowling
suggested, it's the perpetual problem in today's society of not trusting
children to think for themselves.

"It's my profound belief that there's a tendency to underestimate children
on all sorts of levels."

Rowling said that's why she was so annoyed when the New York Times decided
to end Harry Potter's domination of its best-seller list earlier this
summer by relegating it to a newly created "children's fiction" list.

"I was a bit sad, to see that children's literature isn't important.
I find that slightly depressing," she said. "You will see children's book
reviews getting very little space in newspapers, but you'll see, in the
same newspapers, stories about literacy for children."

Rowling does admit that the Harry Potter series was never meant for
very young readers.

"From the very first book, I would meet parents who would say my 5-
or 6-year-old loves it, and that worried me, because I knew what was coming,"
she said. "Eight or 9 is the youngest I would recommend as a reading age
for the book."

But even Rowling may have underestimated a child's tolerance of fear.
Her own daughter, 7-year-old Jessica, insisted on reading the 732-page
Goblet of Fire with no help from Mum.

"She read book four entirely to herself, but I told her when she hit
Chapter 30, I wanted to read it to her and talk her through the ending,"
she said.

Rowling was expecting a tearful response to a popular character's death.

"I looked up at her, expecting her to be really upset. But she said,
'Ah, it's not Harry. Who cares?' " Rowling said.

These days, Rowling's attentions are divided between the publicity of
the series and her effort to finish book five and make it the best it
can be.

Never mind that Amazon.com in the United Kingdom is already taking advance
orders. Never mind that American director Chris Columbus is nearly ready
to start production on the film version of the first Harry Potter book.

Rowling, a natural stoic, said she has total "blockage power." She said
when it comes to Harry and the gang, she has a one-track mind not easily
swayed by hype or public opinion.

"I'm really still loving the writing," she said. "My Holy Grail is to
end the seven-book series and know I was really true to what I wanted
to write."

Earlier this month, Rowling signed on as an ambassador for Britain's
National Council for One-Parent Families. She has also donated 500,000
pounds (nearly $1 million in U.S. dollars) to the cause. Not because she's
now considered "the richest woman in Britain," but because she feels responsible
to speak out on behalf of single parents.

During her brief reliance on the "dole" (British public assistance),
Rowling said her eyes were opened to the difficulties other single mothers
faced.

"I used to wonder when I was in that situation why nobody was putting
the facts out about how difficult that situation really was," she said.
"So when the council of single families approached me, I thought 'OK,
then it's me. If no one else is going to say it, I will.' "

Noble a cause as it is, though, such commitments can be hefty to a woman
with three books to finish. Much like the early days, when she was finishing
her first two books with baby Jessica at her cafe table, Rowling's elevation
to world role model has placed more demands on her time.

"On an ideal day, I'll probably write six to 10 hours," Rowling said.
"But I'm having time trouble. I still write longhand, and I still write
away from the house. I use cafes like offices really, with the added bonus
that someone is there to bring me coffee."